Oooops. This was supposed to release at 7:30 this morning like usual, but due to, ahem, human error, it was set to release at 7:30pm instead. Sorry!
One of us! One of us! One of us!
You’re getting this delightful bonus newsletter because January is MONSTROSITY shopping month! For these few weeks, you’ll get a sneak peek at the weekly newsletters paying MONSTROSITY Hoard members get all year long.
Hoard perks include:
BIG THINKS on hot topics in science fiction and fantasy + BOOK RECS with my thoughts on everything I read
CREATURE FEATURES with gorgeous illustrated downloadable wallpapers and written profiles on fantastical creatures each quarter
Random GIVEAWAYS for books and more
ADVANCE COPIES of my new releases + SNEAK PEEKS at what I'm working on now
So if you love what you read, join us! The price is reduced throughout January, but it’s going up every week. Right now, you can still get it for $24, 20% off the usual $30.
And did I mention you’ll keep that discounted price forever???
Grab it now—next week, it’s gone.
Creature Feature: Echidna
The Creature Feature is a bonus column released quarterly for Hoard members only. Each profile includes a quippy, in-depth profile of a monster or other fantastical being, along with a gorgeous commissioned illustration. Hoard members are invited to download these illustrations and use as desktop wallpapers or however you wish. Enjoy!
To check out October’s first Creature Feature on golems, as well as future profiles, join the MONSTROSITY Hoard.
Echidna is a creature of Greek mythology — quite literally, she’s a she-viper, half beautiful woman, half formidable serpent. And depending on what take on her you’re reading, she also has wings.
Greek mythology family trees are always murky, but they’re also badass, so let’s take a minute.
Echidna was likely birthed by the sea god Phorcys and sea goddess Ceto. But the mother could also have been Callirhoe, a companion of Persephone—in which case Echidna’s father was Chrysaor, a relative of Medusa. This one is my favorite, because what could be more monstrous or badass than a descendant of Medusa. Another cool take has Echidna as the daughter of the goddess of the River Styx.
Echinda is known as the mother of monsters, and indeed, she gave birth to many of Greek mythology’s biggest and baddest.
Among them:
Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the Underworld
The Hydra, the many-headed serpent, who grows two heads each time you cut one off
The Nemean lion, killed by Heracles as his first labor
The Chimera, a fire-breathing beast that’s part lion and part goat, with a snake-headed tail
The Sphinx, a monster with the head of a woman and the body of a winged lion
The Colchian dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece
Possibly also the Harpies
In other words, if a hero feared it or killed in Greek mythology, Echidna probably birthed it.
Sometimes described as seductive and other times as hideous (much like Medusa, as it happens), Echidna was married to Typhon, father of monsters. Together, they attempted to take down the gods, and they almost pulled it off. In fact, Typhon got so close that he managed to pull the tendons out of Zeus, and Echidna protected the tendons for her husband until Hermes and Pan managed to steal them back. She was a definite cannibal and ate all who approached her lair. Sometimes, she’d lure them in when she was lonely, only to then eat them, still. Earthquakes are said to be Echidna tunneling around under the earth.
Eventually Hera sent Argos, a giant with a hundred eyes, to kill Echidna, and she was defeated.
Further Reading:
Check out the first Creature Feature from October here.
Bonus fact: There is also a prickly anteater by the same name. Cute, yes?
Reading
I cannot emphasize enough how much Veronica Mars just b r o k e me. I’ll be studying these characters to learn the secrets behind their irresistible pull for years.
Mood
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E. J. Wenstrom is the award-winning SFF author of the Chronicles of the Third Realm War series. Start with Mud.